THE END TIMES

How do I confront?

November 17, 2019: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary time

Malachi 3: 19-20; 2 Thessalonians 3: 7-12; Luke 21: 5-19

Reflecting on the third World Day of the Poor

Today is the last Sunday in the Ordinary time, and next week we would be celebrating the solemnity of Christ the King. And the Word this week reminds us of the second coming of the King, that is the END times! Some get a strange a kick out of talking about the end times and spiritually terrorise those who listen to them. There have been cases of people who had bought trenches to secure themselves when the mystery stories did their rounds in 2012...about the end of the world! Let us remember dear friends that we have been living in the end times for the past 2000 years!!! Even St. Paul had to warn the Thessalonians not to make too much of these!

For a true Christian what should the 'end time' mean? Should it be terrorising? Should it make one go into a delirious tantrum or a plaguing paranoia? Those are in no way Christian responses to the thought on end times. Because for the one who believes in Christ, the Lord who has overcome the world (Jn 16:33), the Lord who has gained victory over death (Rom 6:9), the end time is not dreadful, it cannot be a threatening darkness! The first reading says so plainly, "but for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays!" (Mal 3:20). 

Pope Francis has thought of a proactive and truly Christ-ian way of approaching the End times... and that is why he proposed three years ago to punctuate this Sunday as the World day of the Poor! That adds another live dimension to our central theme here.

Hence, the Word and the reflection on the poor in the world today,  instruct us on how we should confront the end times. What if the end of times were tomorrow, or today or now! We have begun our life journey, a journey of perfection towards union in Christ and this journey has to necessarily end, and that end is nothing but union with Christ. How my soul should long for that: like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul longs for you, my God! (Ps 42:1) 

The first reading tells me, what I need to do first and foremost, to prepare myself for the end times is to LEND my ears to the Lord. When I hear the word of the Lord and live it with all my heart (Jas 1:22), not beset by occasional set backs but ever trusting in the mercy and goodness of the Lord, I need to fear no one; I need to fear nothing, not even the gates of hell! But the secret is eagerness to lend my ears to the Word of the Lord.

The second reading challenges me to AMEND my ways in the Lord, go on living my every day life with serenity and peace. There is nothing to worry or fret as the Thessalonians did, for my soul finds rest in the Lord, and my salvation comes from God (Ps 62:1). All that I need to do is remain mindful of my ways! A sincere humility and daily conversion leads me to a genuine Christian life. When I begin everyday in the presence of the Lord planning my life and end it in God's presence evaluating it on the basis of God's teachings, I come to know of the things that I can be happy about and the things I need to grow in. A saint is not someone who has never failed, but is someone who has never remained the same after a failure! The secret is my willingness to amend my ways to walk in the light of the Lord. It is here that the reflection on the world day of the poor can be located: the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever (Ps.9:19). The world today has to reconsider its understanding of development, progress and economic growth! It is such an inhuman phenomenon to just ignore and take for granted an entire percentage of persons, for the sake of the pleasure of a few! What has been my role in this?

The Gospel invites me to TRANSCEND all fears and trust in the Lord. Humanly speaking, I cannot end all my fears, but I can transcend every one of them. When my heart trusts in the Lord, when my eyes are fixed on my Saviour, when my hand rest in the hands of the One who leads me, I can transcend all my fears - like Peter who dared to step on to the turbulent sea and walk, like Paul and Barnabas who stood before the angry Sanhedrin and spoke, like the apostles who defied every authority and spread the message of Christ... they were all once filled with fear... they were the same weak men but with the Spirit they could transcend all fears! Nothing - no threat, no punishment, not even death - could frighten them. The secret is my capacity to transcend all fears with the Spirit of power, love and self-discipline (2 Tim 1:7). Not giving into pessimism is a crucial Christian trait and we need to grow in it. Looking at the economic discrepancies that exist, the digital divide that dehumanises, the capitalistic globalisation that makes exploitation ever more prevalent, can we give up our hope? We cannot. Every Christian and every Christian community has to make a difference - only then the Lord's wish today, that the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever, shall come true!

The End of times is near... in fact we are living in the end times... it is not a matter to be spoken of in alarm or in whispers... the message of end times is, a call to lend my ears to the Word of the Lord, a challenge to amend my ways in the ways of the Lord and to transcend all fears with the Spirit of the Lord! Let us live every day of our life, as if it were the last day of our life, every moment as if it were the last. Let us live our lives to the full, ever acceptable in the eyes of the Lord!